I've got proof too.
Ok, maybe that's not Richard Simmons, but you have to admit the similarities are striking. I ran across this card on Friday and got a good laugh out of it. I looked Randy Jones up on baseball-almanac.com and was shocked to discover he won the Cy Young Award in 1976. I say shocked because I don't think I've ever heard of Randy Jones. For two years in the mid-70s, he was a star. Well, at least an All-Star.
Randy Jones pitched in the majors for 10 years. His career numbers are a 100-123 record, with a 3.42 ERA and 735 Ks to go along with 73 complete games. Those don't sound like amazing numbers, but pull out his two best seasons, 1975 and 1976, and he was very good. In 1975 he went 20-12 with a 2.24 ERA in 285 innings pitched. He had 18 complete games and a whopping 103 strikeouts. In 1976, his Cy Young year, he went 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA in 315.1 innings. He had 25 complete games and 93 strikeouts. Just think, he lost more games that year than Felix Hernandez won this year, and they both won a Cy Young Award.
Jones pitched in two All-Star games, both coming in his best years. In 1975 he pitched one scoreless inning, earning a save. In 1976, he started and pitched 3 scoreless innings, earning the win for the National League.
I'd say that's a pretty good couple of years for a guy I never heard of...until now.
Randy Jones was the man... if you're a Padres fan. He's actually tied with Jake Peavy for 2nd all-time in wins for the Padres.
ReplyDeleteI love this card... in fact, I recently picked up the Topps Cloth version of this card on COMC.
Nice call on the Simmons comparison... he does kind of look like him.
You couldn't go anywhere without hearing about Randy Jones in 1976. And that card was one of THE cards for my sixth grade class to have when half the class traded cards. Even a number of the girls knew who Randy Jones was.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Randy Jones would kick Richard Simmons' ass in everything, including a barbecue sauce-making contest, as he makes and sells his own.